Sophia, who was born in Jamaica, represents the immigrant experience as well as the domestic violence survivors’. At age 9, she immigrated to the Bahamas, and in 1980, she moved to Hartford, Connecticut. She attended Central Connecticut State University and earned a bachelors degree in marketing with a minor in African American studies. In 2002, she obtained her master’s. Dress for Success Hartford provided her with professional attire for the first time in 2012, before an interview. She got a job and joined the Professional Women’s Group.

“When I came to Dress for Success Hartford, I was starting my life over after leaving an abusive relationship. In the beginning, as a single parent, it was a difficult and challenging journey to move toward my healing and economic independence. Being a part of Dress for Success Hartford impacted my life by motivating me to obtain a job as a clinical social worker and to keep advancing myself professionally,” Sophia says. In the past, she has worked providing reunification services to families, and in January 2024, she started a new position as a community intimate Partner Violence Therapist. “Today, I am making a difference in the lives of women and children, inspiring them to achieve their highest level of humanity and cultivate the world with love,” Sophia says.